Wednesday, March 08, 2006

God show me the way cause the devil's tryin to bring me down!

This'll be a quick one,

Thanks to Dan over at the Stray Dawg for pointing out that Pearl Jam's new single, Worldwide Suicide, is available over at their official site for free download! They encourage people to grab it and share it. What a difference being signed to an indie label makes! And yes, the song kicks mucho ass!

Meanwhile, every so often i see a flick that just doesn't resonate with me like i'd hoped it would. Either it was mis-represented by the trailers, or it just plain wasn't what i thought it was going to be. This typically colors my view of a flick upon initial viewing - or perhaps it could be my surroundings - some films are just to intimate and personal to be shared with a theatre crowd, or perhaps there's just too much going on visually to fully appreciate it on a 17 inch computer monitor. One such film for me was Jarhead.

I missed the theatrical run by a few days, so i managed to scope it out via other means. And when i watched initially, i was let down. The mesmerizing imagery of the trailer seemed no where to be found, and for a war film, it really wasn't very, uh, warlike. I loved Sam Mendes' previous work and really was expecting something different. A film i had expected to rank favorably in my "best of '05" list, wound up with an honorable mention. Well i revisited Jarhead today, on DVD, in the film-bunker, and it clicked. I can't explain it really, but the film just sort of grabbed hold of me, and just blew me off my feet. The mesmerizing visuals were there, in spades, and there was just something captivating about the film. Perhaps it's because i didn't have the mental picture of Marines rocking out full auto to the beats of Kanye West while Hum-Vees exploded in a shower of wartime violence. I knew what i was getting. It's not the first time i've had to revise my "best of" list, and it won't be the last - only a fool would live by the rigidity of a list for the rest of his days, Jarhead deserves the recognition in my book, the fact that it was ignored entirely by the Academy is an insult and a spit in the face to this film. Jarhead has moved up the list, and taken it's proper spot at #4, immediately behind Kingom of Heaven and ahead of The Great Raid (Sorry Joss Whedon fans, that knocks Serenity out of the top 10). I'll update the actual top 10 list later this evening.

I didn't even get to fire my rifle...

Cheers,Steve"Where there's smoke... there are a million angry Joss Whedon fans burning an effigy of Steve"

I didn't care for American Beauty at all (stupid Academy; The Insider should have won the Oscar), and I think Road to Perdition comes close to hitting the mark, but comes up just a little short. That being said, I still plan to check out Jarhead. Hell, I'll watch anything Roger Deakins shoots. I can probably get a copy from Jesse. I just gotta find his fat ass.

I can dig it. I was suprised as all hell by american Beauty, and loved Road To Perdition. So, yeah, i'm a Mendes fan - he's like PT Anderson without the artsy prentention (or maybe with a mainstream bent). And his flicks are georgeous to look at. Yeah, Deakins shoots the hell out of this one - there are some mindblowing visuals.